


The memories of his rose.

by LadyDestiny



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Dragon Age: Inquisition, Warden Alistair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 10:49:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6851665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDestiny/pseuds/LadyDestiny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair is grieving for the death of his mentor; Duncan when he realizes that something magical happened to him without knowing it. Thoughts are funny things and Alistair followed them to the right path which is full of surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The memories of his rose.

**Author's Note:**

> Lady Ava Cousland is my Female Cousland and is originally a Mage Cousland. In my story she is crowned Queen of Fereldan and Warden Commander. Hope you will all like her.

Alistair was laying in the ground, starring at the starry sky and tears fall down on his eyes. He missed Duncan, his mentor and father figure. The commander of the Grey Wardens had fallen in Ostagar with his brother, the king of Ferelden, and his fellow Grey Wardens. He and a new Grey Warden were the last who were left alive.  
At his early years he was raised by Arl Eamon of Redcliff. He was working of course, helping around whenever he could or was needed but he wasn’t welcome there. The arlessa hated him because she thought he was her husband bastard son and demanded to be sent away without a second thought.  
After that Arl Eamon asked from the chantry to take care of him and sometimes he was allowed on going for some summer works to Redcliff to gain some money to offer to the chantry since it was needed. The chantry those years was really poor and barely could feed all the kids it had to monitor. His clothes were always torn apart and his shoes were old. Being a child all alone in the whole world is difficult and cruel since they world doesn’t help you nor care about you. The arl couldn’t stand seeing him like that and when Alistair’s father died he revealed the truth to him. He was a Therin. King’s Maric second son. He was a bastard prince. A true love’s child between Maric and a Warden known Fiona the Elf. That made the Arl his uncle. Sort-of since he was the older brother of Maric’s wife, Queen Rowan. A huge shock for the child. Maric was coming almost once or twice a month to play with young Alistair, he loved him very much but he was never known as his father but simply as a friend of Eamon. 

Things lighten up when Alistair passed the joining and was part of the Grey Wardens. Alas, he belonged somewhere. The Grey Wardens of Ferelden was the only family Alistair ever learnt. He was happy until General Loghain Mac Tir decided to destroy them all and betray his king, Maric and Rowan’s son, Cailan. He was the only prince of Fereldan now and the only one that had a link to the royal family but he had no right to succeed his brother to the throne. He was simply a bastard of the king and that only if everyone believed him. Though he really didn’t mind. Actually at all. He didn’t want to be king. He wanted a simple life.  
Simple life… he wanted to travel the world and feel free and when that happened he would settle to a small wooden farm house in a faraway village, having animals and never to care about his royal heritage.  
But now; things are different. The king was dead; Anora was on the throne and everybody knew that behind her it was her father who ruled the land, General Loghain. That man never liked the bastard prince. He wanted Fereldan to be a strong nation and never to fear Orlains or any other enemy; however he hadn’t realized yet the danger the kingdom faced by the darkspawns and the archdemon. He thought it was only a way for him to show off.  
Alistair had to step in; the fact is that he would never do that. Except Eamon who was heavily sick none other knew that he was the hidden prince and never should anyone know. Well someone else knew too now that he thought of it a small smile shined to his face.  
“Rose” he spelt and sighed dreamily as the tears now where gone from his cheeks and they were replaced with a huge radiate smile. His rose. The lady of Cousland, Princess in consort of Fereldan, Anora’s most hated enemy and late’s King Cailan most faithful friend, fellow warden Ava. That girl was really like an angel for him. She had beautiful long with elegant curly dark brown hair, sparkling and big green eyes and a skin soft like a baby’s and white as snow. Her cheeks were usually pink when he was around and that is what made him to give her the rose of Fereldan. “Ava” he sighed again and closed his eyes imaging her coming and stroking his cheeks and hair, calming him down and giving him some love.  
That girl was indeed out of the known world. She was in the core of the war against the darkspawns. She was seeing all the time people dying by bleeding or beheading or any cause of death and she stayed always so sweet and caring and kind. Always willing to help the others. Always ready to take a stand when injustice did strike. He was so lucky to have met such a girl, she was the reason he regained hope, the little light he had after his mentor died. She had that gift that whenever she talked she could make him rest assure that they will succeed. Whenever she was giving a speech to inspire her comrades, everybody looked straight at her lips. 

Her lips. The thought of them just made him shiver in a wave of pleasure. That was it. He wanted her. He was in love with her. He knew then that he and she were destined to be together. Yes that was it, he was in love with her, that was for sure. All he could thing about is how he would be able to steal a kiss from her. It should be night and when none could see him.  
Now it was night, and he was the only one awake so it was the perfect time. The thought of Duncan and how much he missed, the thought of him being an unwanted and forbidden child, the burden of being a bastard king were now gone and they were always gone whenever he was thinking of Ava Cousland. That magical woman had stolen his heart and she didn’t intend to give it back to the rightful owner. However, what if she was the one who was destined to have his heart? Then wouldn’t it be fair if he at least steal a kiss? “yes” he said out loud to encourage himself “that would be fair.” With that thought he stood up and walked toward her tent. It was just some steps away, he insisted to be closed to her in case the darkspawns attacked. He didn’t want to risk her safety. With the thought of her getting hurt he just paralyzed for a moment. That suddenly brought back all the nightmares; the blood, the deaths, the destruction, the fear, the loneliness. His legs didn’t move, the wind was cold under his heavy armor, his breath was now heavy and quick and his heart was beating faster than normal. They were all back and now it was worst because Ava was part of his fears too. She was there, begging for his help and he was unable to reach her. She was covered from the top to the bottom with blood, bleeding to death. His imagination along with his fear played him and played him very good. He was now standing there like his feet were stacked in the solid ground. He shut his eyes to prevent the images and the tears that were coming. He needed to be strong and able to separate the reality from a dream or a bad thought. He needed to gain the control one more time. That was the difficult part though. He had already freaked out. “Deep breath in and then out” a calm voice which was followed with a gentle stroke sounded and he jumped a bit but didn’t move away. He followed the instructions as they were repeated in a loop and the stroke kept being there; accompany them like a sweet melody. 

After some minutes he finally managed to calm down. At last, he could feel his thoughts in line and not ready to eat him alive. He opened his eyes and now surprised overpassed him. She was there, the rose. Now he remembered everything as he saw her in the night, staring at him with kindness and concern. 

The day on the castle was very tiring for a kid at the age of 9. He was going around helping with the chores. The Arlessa was very angry at him every time of the day. Whenever she was angry she blamed him and run him around the castle with difficult jobs for his age. The Arl was gone so Alistair could not escape this time, he simply had to bow down his head and obey or else no food for him. Tears of agony rolled on his cheeks from the fear that if anything goes wrong he would pay. Thoughts suddenly stopped when he fall down and his face met the hard rocking ground. His cheek started bleeding and he started crying from the pain. The laundry has fallen down and was getting dirty. That was it, the Arlessa would kill him. The cook lady saw and rushed to his aid. She took a wet napkin and gave it to him, she then dismissed him and started to picking up the laundry quick for her lady shouldn’t know or little Alistair would be in severe trouble now his lordship was gone.  
The little boy went back to backyard and sat on a huge tree. He cried and let all the pain to surpass him. He let it all out and the napkin was half red from his blood. The pain wasn’t so intense as the fear of what would happen if she found out what happened with the laundry. Detention, no food and no warm bed for a week, at least. Only water and rotten food.

The tears were running, never leaving at least a warmth stopped them. Surprised the little boy opened his eyes and saw a girl with big green eyes before him. Her eyebrows and hair were brown, her skin flawless and white and her cheeks and lips light pink. She was looking worried. “Are you okay?” asked and offered him her hand so he could stand up. Her voice was divine, maybe the most beautiful and sweet voice he had ever heard. He nodded as he took her hands and stood up. He took a good look of her. She was a girl around 7 years old, royalty clearly from the way her hair was tied to the silk dress she wore. “Thank you Andraste!” she exhaled with as she calmed down. “Why were you crying? Where did you hurt?” she asked and took out a napkin of her owns and wiped away carefully the blood from his cheek. The boy never stopped looking deep into her eyes. He could hear and see anything he only couldn’t react, or so he thought. “I am okay, I just fall down and hit myself.” He answered and stopped when she cleaned him up “Thank you... you are too kind” Her eyes closed a bit and she giggled softly “my pleasure, I love helping others… um… “ she tried to remember his name. He knew he hadn’t told it at all but he didn’t want to make him feel either. “Alistair” he then added after thinking of it for a while. She gracefully smile and bowed once before him “Alistair, I am Lady Ava Cousland, it’s an honour to make your acquaintance” her bowed fitted a princess, she was indeed a lady well-behaved and well-taught. He stood up and returned the bow but hardly as a prince but more like a citizen. “The honour is mine Lady Cousland, what brings you here?” and then a friendship shaped for the next 2 summers, then one day; he disappeared.  
Whenever he tried to remember the name of that girl; he simply couldn’t. Maybe it was an effect from the darkspawns’ blood in the ritual of becoming a Grey Warden. He constantly forgot that he almost died that day. “It was you” he whispered to Ava and then touched her cheeks and pulled her close to him linking their lips; shutting and becoming one. The taste of the kiss was far better than he dreamt and the thing that surprised him the most was that he had a reply. She returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

They kissed and hugged all the night; without taking. After all it was something they both wanted. The needed it and then graved for it although Ava never understood the part of It was you that Alistair had told her. Maybe one day he would share his thoughts but now it was not that day. That was the day his most treasured memory came back. The memory of his rose.


End file.
